A groundbreaking and comprehensive history of the Roman Peace from one of the leading historians of the ancient world.

Best-selling author Adrian Goldsworthy turns his attention to the Pax Romana, the famous peace and prosperity brought by the Roman Empire at its height in the first and second centuries AD. Yet the Romans were conquerors, imperialists who took by force a vast empire stretching from the Euphrates to the Atlantic coast. Ruthless, Romans won peace not through coexistence but through dominance; millions died and were enslaved during the creation of their empire.

Pax Romana examines how the Romans came to control so much of the world and asks whether traditionally favorable images of the Roman peace are true. Goldsworthy vividly recounts the rebellions of the conquered, examining why they broke out, why most failed, and how they became exceedingly rare. He reveals that hostility was just one reaction to the arrival of Rome and that from the outset, conquered peoples collaborated, formed alliances, and joined invaders, causing resistance movements to fade away.

Why this book?

Peace is always a rare and precious thing and this makes the “Roman Peace” all the more remarkable, and I wanted to understand how it came about. I wanted also to understand what the Roman Empire meant to the people who lived in it. What was it like for the other peoples in the ancient world who found themselves living next to the Roman Empire, or were incorporated into it, whether by force or choice? It is simplistic to demonize empires—just as it once was to celebrate them uncritically—and there is a danger of turning conquered peoples into passive and virtuous victims of imperialist aggression. The truth is more complicated, and looking at Roman power from the viewpoint of Romans and outsiders provides many relevant insights to our own world.

But wasn’t "Pax Romana" the peace imposed by the victors, whose conceit was that they were bringing civilization to barbarians?The Romans fought a lot of wars, and never granted other peoples equal status. Other kingdoms and states were either allies or real or potential enemies. Peace made Rome and its allies safe. Only once they were well on their way to establishing a large and permanent empire did the Romans begin to talk of a duty to bring peace, order, and the rule of law to a wider world. This was not achieved solely or even primarily by force. People wanted to be Roman. Peace became a reality, even if imperfect.

Praise for Caesar:"This book makes and insightfully explains the leap from Caesar the soldier and general to Caesar the statesman and nation builder. It's better than any book I've ever read on him, and more incisive."—Wall Street Journal
​"An authoritative and exciting portrait not only of Caesar but of the complex society in which he lived."—Steven Coates, New York Times Book Review

Culture that is identifiably Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 B.C.E, approximately over the range of the preceding Iron AgeVillanovan culture.The latter gave way in the 7th century to a culture that was influenced by ancient Greece, Magna Graecia, and Phoenicia. At its maximum extent, during the foundational period of Rome and the Roman Kingdom, Etruscan civilization flourished in three confederacies of cities: of Etruria, of the Po Valley with the eastern Alps, and of Latium and Campania. The decline was gradual, but by 500 BC the political destiny of Italy had passed out of Etruscan hands. The last Etruscan cities were formally absorbed by Rome around 100 BC.

The latest mitochondrial DNA study (2013) shows that Etruscans appear to fall very close to a Neolithic population from Central Europe and to other Tuscan populations, and are ancestral to the modern inhabitants of Casentino and Volterra. The study also excluded recent Anatolian connection.

The following is an excerpt from the Pyrgi tablets, This temple and these statues are dedicated to Uni-Astre, built by the clanspeople. Tiberius Velianas the pleasing aedicula has given. That burial of his own by these priests with idols was encircled. For three years Churvar, with Her burnt offerings, with idols buried. During the reign of the chief, in Her hand would be brought forth. And with these Hermes idols, the year shall endure as the stars.

The Etruscan language (/ᵻˈtrʌskən/) was the spoken and written language of the Etruscan civilization, in Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria (modern Tuscany plus western Umbria and northern Latium) and in parts of Campania, Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna (where the Etruscans were displaced by Gauls). Etruscan influenced Latin, but was eventually completely superseded by it. The Etruscans left around 13,000 inscriptions which have been found so far, only a handful of which are of significant length, some bilingual inscriptions with texts also in Latin, Greek, or Phoenician, and a few dozen loanwords, such as the name Roma (from Etruscan Ruma), but Etruscan's influence was significant.​

“…'The construction of the Emperor's Road is thought to have taken place at the time of Emperor Hadrian's visit to the country, circa 130 CE [AD], or slightly thereafter, during the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 132-135 CE [AD].'

The presence of a milestone (a stone marking distances) bearing the name of the emperor Hadrian discovered nearby reinforces the idea that the road was built during the rule of Emperor Hadrian.

The emperor is best known for building walls around his colossal empire, including Hadrian's wall in Carlisle.

Coins from the Roman era were found sticking out between the paving stones of the road.

MACCHU PICCHU, A 15TH CENTURY INCA CITADEL IN THE CUSCO REGION OF PERU

The Inca Empire, also known as the Inka Empire or Incan Empire, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century, and the last Inca stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572. The Inca succumbed to Pizarro, who had 168 men and 62 horses; not a single casualty.

From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including, besides Peru, large parts of modern Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and central Chile, and a small part of southern Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia. The official language of the empire was Quechua, although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. Many local forms of worship persisted in the empire, most of them concerning local sacred Huacas, but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti—their sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama. The Incas considered their king, the Sapa Inca, to be the "son of the sun."